Google AXES another 1,200 employees from Motorola workforce

'In markets where we're not competitive and we're losing money'

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Google is cutting loose another 10 per cent of its Motorola Mobility workforce - which means 1,200 employees at the smartphone maker face redundancy.

The move comes after 4,000 jobs in the Motorola wing of Google's biz were axed in August 2012.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Motorola workers were told about the layoffs in an email earlier this week.

The newspaper quoted an extract from the apparent message, which soberly said:

While we're very optimistic about the new products in our pipeline, we still face challenges ... Our costs are too high, we're operating in markets where we're not competitive and we're losing money.

It understood that the job cuts will hit Motorola employees in the US, China and India. The company pulled out of South Korea entirely in December last year.

A spokesman for Motorola Mobility told The Register: "These cuts are a continuation of the reductions we announced last summer. It's obviously very hard for the employees concerned, and we are committed to helping them through this difficult transition."

The latest cull will reduce Google's Motorola headcount to just under 10,000 staff.

Google coughed up $12.5bn to move into the mobile hardware game with its bid to buy Motorola Mobility in August 2011. However, it took 10 months for the deal to be cleared by regulators in the US, Europe and China. ®